Beowulf Manuscript• Written between middle 7th and late 10th c.• 1st mentioned in 1536• Owned by the antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton,

who owned the most extensive library of Anglo-Saxon texts ever

• 1700: the Cotton library was willed to England and moved to the Ashburnham House in Westminster

• October 23, 1731: The Ashburnham Fire• 1833: first English edition of Beowulf is

published

Cotton Vitellius A.xv

Four Dialects of Old English

700 – 1066

• West Saxon

• Kentish

• Northumbrian

• Mercian

Old English1. Alphabet and pronunciation

th sound: þ (the thorn) wiþ (with)

ð (the eth) ða (then)æ (digraph) a in “hat

sc (“sh” sound) sceap (sheep)

c (“k” sound)c (“ch” sound)

þat (that)þorn (thorn)scip (ship)bæc (back)benc (bench)

Rarity of words from Latin and French that make up large portions of our language now (post Norman

Conquest).85% of Old English words are

no longer in use.Mann mete

wif gæs (grass) cild leaf

hus god (good) weall (wall) feohtan (fight)

Old English is a synthetic, not an analytic, language: parts of speech have endings for different persons, numbers, tenses, and moods (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative).

Audio of lines 194 -224

http://www.beowulftranslations.net/benslade.shtml

Beowulf Prologue (audio with text)

Sutton Hoo excavation site in Suffolk

Shield Mount

Anglo-Saxon Necklace

Boar Crest

Sutton Hoo Helmet

Sutton Hoo Helmet

The Royal Shield

The Royal Shoulder Mounts

The Great Gold Buckle

Buckle Mount for Sword Scabbard

Beowulf in the news…

Old English Poetics:Genre and Form

Epic or Heroic Epic: long narrative poem on a serious subject told in a formal or elevated style and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whom the fate of a tribe, nation, or the human race depends. Beowulf is a primary epic; that means it originates in the oral tradition.

Elegiac: a formal and sustained lament in verse for the death of a particular person or about the transitory nature of life.

Lines: The poetic lines of Beowulf are constructed of two half lines, each with two strong stresses and of varying syllables (8 -12 for Beowulf)

Old English Poetics:Alliteration

Definition: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds

Use in Beowulf: The alliteration of Beowulf always occurs between the first stress of the second half line and one or both of the strong stresses of the first half line. Translators of Beowulf into modern English vary in their success in mirroring this style of alliteration.

Example:Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,monegum mǽgþum meodo-setla oftēah;(4-5).

Old English Poetics:The Kenning

Definition: a kenning is an OE compound metaphor

Examples from Beowulf: “swan-road” “wave-courser”

“wave piercer” (1273)“Heaven’s candle” (1391)“war icicle” (1420)

Old English Poetics:The Litote

Definition: A figure of speech, in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (OED); often an ironic understatement

Examples from Beowulf:“a pyre on earth, an unweak one” (3138) “That exchange was not good” (1304)“That was not an easy journey” (2586)

Old English Interlace

The Franks casket (c 700)—left panelFrom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_left_panel.jpg

Old English Interlace

South face of the Bewcastle Cross in Cumberland (pre-710)From http://magicstatistics.com/category/history/british-history/

Old English Interlace

Facsimile of the Book of Durrow (folio 192 verso) (mid or late 7th c)From http://illuminations.ca/ms-durrow.html

Old English Interlace

The hilt of the Crundale sword (late 7th c)

From http://extraordinarybookofdoors.com/AppendixI.aspx

Old English Interlace

Carpet page from the Lindisfarne Gospels (c 700)From http://www.danielmitsui.com/hieronymus/index.blog/1707277/carpet-pages-from-the-lindisfarne-gospels/

Old English Interlace

The Gandersheim Casket (later 8th c. or early 9th)Image from http://www.historicmedals.com/viewItem.php?no=283

Old English Poetics:Beowulf’s Digressions

First digression (778 - 810)Thematic focus: What is a good versus a bad king?

Second digression (937 - 1019)Thematic focus: Commentary on problems within the

heroic code of vengeance

Third digression (1720 - 1735)Thematic focus: What is a good versus a bad queen?

Old English Poetics: Beowulf’s Digressions

Fourth digression (1796 - 1827)Thematic focus: Loyalties and peace are transitory.

Fifth digression (1981 - 2003): “The Lay of the Last Survivor”Thematic focus: We are often misguided in our values,

including those that require revenge.

Sixth digression (2146 - 2215): “Friscian Campaign” and Beowulf’s lineageThematic focus: your actions are more important than

your birth